Regarding map generation, my question is: will they be generated randomly or will they be pre-constructed and thought in advance (as in the original game)
For me, the two are equal:
A random generation, based on precise criteria (eg mediteranean: central water, many fish, little forest) can bring an extra dimension during combat. If it is impossible to know a map by heart, it is also more interesting to adapt to it, and to do with the surprise of the moment.
Maps made and thought, on the other hand, allows to have truly well balanced map, which leaves no error where a random generation could do it. On the other hand, the risk remains to meet people having study the map, and reducing this dose of “surprise”. Moreover, it is necessary to create maps, which takes time, although the community can participate.
So for the ideas that went through this, do not hesitate to tell me what you think and if you have other ideas about the map generation 
While I certainly agree that randomly generated maps would be a huge improvement to the game, I’m not sure if this is a realistic expectation. Having randomly generated maps as an option can’t hurt in any way as long as you can choose between that or hand-crafted ones, but from what I can tell it’s a pretty difficult thing to add without it being buggy/bad. They’ll probably be focusing on other things, but I agree that this would be an amazing addition to the game.
The main focus will certainly be on random maps. That’s how it has always been in all AoE games.
Personally, I also prefer handmade maps, they are more “alive” in my eyes, and safer.
Well, the map editor will still be there and old maps will be compatible, so you can just bring over your favourite maps and play them instead.
The original both had Hand-made and Procedurally generated maps (random map scripts) and it should be left this way. You have the map editor to create your own map and procedural generated ones which can be parameterized so you can set up the seed with different keywords like continental, islands, team islands… And writing a procedural generation isn’t a very difficult thing with a tile based game like AOE so I think it is a must feature.
A lot of people like to create their own maps. But with the old editor, the map creation was not so much comfortable. Will AOE DE get a better map creator?
@qweytr24 said:
The main focus will certainly be on random maps. That’s how it has always been in all AoE games.
Oh shit I’ve just realized after years of playing this game that the random map button creates randomly generated maps. I feel SO STUPID what the hell. I never memorized the maps so I assumed they were the same lol
Random Maps definitely should take focus, it will provide much more replayability
I hope its come a good program that the community can make individual random Mapscript that looks like Aoe2
As far as I know from the thousands of games I’ve played the maps from the original were randomized/procedurally generated, as mentioned above. What I would like to see is season changes for every generated map.
The random generation of maps is a huge reason why i kept playing, even single player and made online matches feel dynamic after so many years. That feeling of going into it knowing a general idea of what to expect but having placement, land formations, wood lines, etc. in a near infinite combination is unbelievably fun.~